“You mean she has nothing beyond, no investments, no income?” Stephen asked.
“Nothing that I know of. She's been selling off lots for the past ten years whenever she needed money; luckily she hasn't needed much.”
Wade's explanation was off hand enough, and Stephen was rather offended by it. He had all along been sensible of a certain callousness on the part of his friend, which Wade with all his shrewdness either could not hide, or else did not know existed. He wondered if this was not one of the results of those hard knocks he had probably received.
“I had an idea, I don't know where or how I got it, that Uncle Jake was my aunt's lawyer,” said Stephen.
“Used to be,” said Wade, jabbing the blade of his pen-knife into the arm of his chair. They were seated in his office, where Landray, in his idleness and lack of all occupation spent much of his time, since Wade, too, was cursed with a larger amount of leisure than was wholly satisfactory to him.
“He's a mighty interesting man—Mr. Benson, I mean—no matter who you are or what you are, sooner or later you're made to feel his importance. If you are a poor man, the time is certain to come when you'll house yourself in one of his tenements, with the privilege of handing over the rent each month to old Gibbs; if you are in business, it's pretty certain he can help or hinder your schemes. There is just one thing! Don't lock horns with him; those who do, go away crippled. He's a potent influence in the life here, Steve; perhaps we don't analyse or realize it, but he stands for the power that money gives; he is the first and last expression of that power to most of us.”
“But he's very simple and kindly,” suggested Stephen.
“I don't know, with so much to say in the affairs of his neighbours, he'd hardly dare to be autocratic; but he's a great lawyer, for a country lawyer, he's really a big man; there's no gainsaying that.” Wade spoke with enthusiasm. “When he takes a case now, he picks and chooses; his fighting days are over, and he is on the winning side or else out of it. He's always been most kind to me; first and last he's thrown quite a little practice my way.”
“You're an energetic fellow, Wade, and deserve to get on. They can't say enough about you at the Nortons.”
“They're mighty good to me there,” said Wade heartily. “You know, my people not being rich or important here has made a difference. There were those who were disposed to patronize me. I mighty soon let 'em know I wouldn't stand for that, but from the first, Mr. Norton and his family just let me know they were plain friendly.”